Wapping

Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is situated on the north bank of the River Thames facing Bermondsey and Rotherhithe and is part of the Docklands area of London. Wapping lies between the River Thames and The Highway.

Related Topics:
London Borough of Tower Hamlets - River Thames - Bermondsey - Rotherhithe - Docklands - The Highway

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The area was first settled by Saxons, from whom it takes its name (meaning literally " Wæppa's people"). It developed along the embankment of the Thames, hemmed in by the river to the south and the now-drained Wapping Marsh to the north. This gave it a peculiarly narrow and constricted shape, consisting of little more than the axis of Wapping High Street and some north-south side streets. John Stow, the 16th century historian, described it as a "continual street, or a filthy strait passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages, built, inhabited by sailors' victuallers."

Related Topics:
Saxons - John Stow - 16th century

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Wapping's proximity to the river gave it a strong maritime character for centuries, well into the 20th century. It was inhabited by sailors, mastmakers, boat-builders, blockmakers, instrument-makers, victuallers and representatives of all the other trades that supported the seafarer. Wapping was also the site of 'Execution Dock', where pirates and other water-borne criminals faced execution by hanging from a gibbet constructed close to the low water mark. Their bodies would be left dangling until they had been submerged three times by the tide.

Related Topics:
20th century - Pirates - Execution - Hanging - Gibbet

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The area's strong maritime associations changed radically in the 19th century when the London Docks were built to the north and west of the High Street. Wapping's population plummeted by nearly 60% during the century, with many houses destroyed by the construction of the docks and giant warehouses along the riverfront. Squeezed between the high walls of the docks and warehouses, the district became isolated from the rest of London, although some relief was provided by Brunel's Thames Tunnel to Rotherhithe. The opening of Wapping tube station on the East London Line in 1869 provided a direct rail link to the rest of London.

Related Topics:
19th century - London Docks - Thames Tunnel - Rotherhithe - Wapping tube station - East London Line - 1869

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Wapping was devastated by German bombing in World War II and by the post-war closure of the docks. It remained a run-down and derelict area into the 1980s, when the area was transferred to the management of the London Docklands Development Corporation, a government quango with the task of redeveloping the Docklands. The London Docks were largely filled in and redeveloped with a variety of commercial, light industrial and residential properties.

Related Topics:
German - World War II - 1980s - London Docklands Development Corporation - Quango

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In 1986, Rupert Murdoch's News International built a new £80m printing and publishing works in the north of Wapping. This became the scene of violent protests after News International's UK operation moved from Fleet Street to Wapping, with over 5,000 print workers being sacked when new technology was introduced. The move was however an attempt to rid the company of the crippling effect of trade union power over the production and editorial process and was largely successful. The plant was nicknamed "Fortress Wapping" when the sacked print workers effectively besieged it, mounting round-the-clock pickets and blockades in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to thwart the move.

Related Topics:
1986 - Rupert Murdoch - News International - Fleet Street - Fortress Wapping

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Nearest places:

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• Bermondsey
• Whitechapel
• Rotherhithe
• Shadwell
• Stepney
• Bethnal Green
• Ratcliffe

Nearest tube station:

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• Wapping tube station
 
Wapping: See also ►